


HLVRV Epic Epilogue Momence

by JackieNautilus



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, G-man is mentioned but never shows up because he's in Coolmathgames, HLVRV AU, Hurt/Comfort, I'm going to be calling them The Interdimensional Science Family, Like, Multi, Pigeons, Potlucks and family dinners, Spork is a legend and we love them, eventually, first chapter is more of a character study than anything, lots of fluff, tags to be added as I update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26353762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackieNautilus/pseuds/JackieNautilus
Summary: It was over. They had defeated the evil G-man and all earned their happy endings. But now the question is: What happens to the Interdimensional Science Family after the fact?Pure unbridled chaos, that's what. Never a dull moment when you're part of a giant family spanning multiple dimensions.
Relationships: Malcom/Worldstop Darnold, Neo/Swap
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	HLVRV Epic Epilogue Momence

**Author's Note:**

> Again, big thank you to Mothra... HLVRV and Y2k were both outstanding experiences and your storytelling kills are *CHEFS KISS.*  
> I've fallen in love with all these characters and considering I'm a sucker for found family... I just couldn't help myself :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benrey used to think love came packaged in glowing pink letters. He thought those love letters were the gateway to true happiness; after all, who didn’t enjoy receiving a love letter?
> 
> He thought differently, now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HLVRV gave me all KINDS of emotions. It was one hell of a rollercoaster, and I'm happy I could be there for the ride! And because I'm a sucker for found family content, I've decided to try my hand at writing some one-shots that take place after the story. Ty Mothra for giving us fanfic rights :)

Benrey used to think love came packaged in glowing pink letters. He thought those love letters were the gateway to true happiness; after all, who didn’t enjoy receiving a love letter?

However, after going on a wacky space adventure packed with a trip to Combine McDonalds, A visit to Neo's cursed house of horrors, 5 different Gordon's (god, he still wasn't over that,) and snitching on a godlike being to his employers for not doing his job, to say he felt completely different would be an understatement. At first he had been naturally apprehensive. For a while, he just let Loverboy do his thing. Not that there was much he could've done other than sit back and watch the madness ensue at the time. He really did just want to hurry up and get home; there was still work to do after all. Like getting Y2k released world-wide and watching as everyone achieved true happiness. That's what humans wanted most in the world, right? Love and happiness? 

Then shit hit the fan and next thing he knew he was forced to come to a truce with Loverboy- no, Gordon B. He was fully expecting Gordon B to just break the necklace as soon as it was off. Be rid of the virus forever.  
  
But instead, he wrapped him around his wrist. A symbol of trust, he had called it. 

Then he witnessed Neo and Swap confess their love for each other. And Benrey felt something shift.

Then Spork modded the necklace. Told Gordy to put it back on. Both were baffled, but then Gordon reminded him what the necklace now represented for both of them. 

**Trust.**

Being Perfect Loverboy with Gordon B felt like nothing he had ever felt before. There was no malice. No spite or anger. For the first time in a long, long while… Benrey felt genuinely _happy_. Teamwork makes the dream work, apparently, no letter required. Getting to see everyone laugh and joke and play around with each other made him finally realize that maybe, just maybe, there’s more to love and happiness than those cursed letters. 

After everyone went home and the mess made in the Y2K program was cleaned up, Benrey found it in himself to give the Computer Science Team a genuine apology. And while wary at first, they accepted it. It’d still take some time to be well and truly forgiven, have everything be water under the bridge, but Benrey had friends now. Real fucking friends. Friends who liked him of their own volition, and not because he forced his letters down their throats. 

It was enough to make a Malware- no, Palware, that’s what the emails had called him- cry. And cry he did. 

\---------------------------------------

Being used as a fax machine during one of Malcom’s livestreams wasn’t as bad as he initially thought it would be. Benrey was currently sitting on his desk, robot body hooked up to the computer. Everytime someone in chat donated, his printer would begin whirring and he ejected whatever bizarre image the donor had decided to send. This entire bit was Neo’s idea. They thought it’d be funny, and after getting permission from Spork and buying around 3 whole packages of printing paper, they were all set. Benrey had originally been against the idea, afraid that the rapid printing would drain his batteries or fry his hard drive or some shit, but Spork reassured him that their coding and robotics skills were immaculate and that none of that would happen. And as always, they were right. 

The chat absolutely loved the idea, too. This was Benrey’s first time on stream since he got his robot body, and the chat instantly adored him. That’s one perk of being a tiny sentient robot, he supposed; small and cute = adoration. Score for the Palware. 

The stream was relatively chill for the most part. Well, as ‘chill’ as one of Malcom’s streams could be. Neo and Swap were here too (Using Benrey as a fax machine had been Neo’s idea, after all,) and they were all currently playing a game from Neo’s dimension. Eggman Adventure 2, or some shit. Occasionally they’d pause the game to gawk and laugh over one of the donated faxes. Eventually, Malcolm decided he needed to take a break. So the stream went on hold. Neo disconnected Benrey from the computer so he could take a break from all the printing, and also so he could reload the paper storage. They were on like, what… Package 2 now? There was paper littered all over the floor. Benrey decided there was no way in hell he was helping to clean up this mess. 

Neo, Swap and Benrey all went off camera when Player walked in the room. As soon as the chat spotted him, they began asking for him, and Player (being the absolute sweetheart he is) complied, sitting down in the now vacant office chair, petting a Pigeon he had found while out on a walk and talking to the chat about how his day had been going. 

The three stream assistants were now standing in the kitchen. Swap had found out where Malcom kept the ‘gamer fuel’ and was now gargling it while Neo just stared at him and smiled adoringly. Benrey knew those two were a thing, he was there when they first kissed for god’s sake. He had known for a long time. But everytime they kissed, or called each other affectionate pet names, or stared at each other in that wonderfully blissful way, Benrey eventually came to realize a startling truth.

There were still some aspects of love he didn’t understand.

Sure! He had friends now! Hell, Benrey had a fucking family! 

But after spending so long believing the only way to be happy was through artificial letters coded with malicious intent he was still having trouble figuring out what real love was. He knew there were different kinds… Romantic, Platonic, Familial, ect. But for the little Palware, it was all so much to take in. 

And next thing he knew he was speaking. One, simple question.

“What is love?”

Neo and Swap both turned and looked at him. Swap looking like he had just swallowed a frog, although since this was Swap, Benrey honestly didn’t know if that was normal or not. Neo on the other hand, skipped no beats and instantly replied with:

“Baby don’t hurt me.”

Benrey blinked. That certainly hadn’t been the answer he was expecting. And the look on his robotic face made that very clear.

A long moment passed, before realization dawned on Neo’s face. 

“Oh. Oh you were being serious, weren’t you?”

“What kind of response is ‘baby don’t hurt me?’” Swap looked at Neo, a look of utter confusion on his face. “Is that another weird ‘human’ thing?”

Shaking their head, Neo lightly chuckled. “No… No, it’s a reference to a song. I’ll fill you in on the details later, Pigeon Perch. Honestly it’s a song everyone should know, one of the old greats.”

Ignoring Swap's flustered sputtering at use of the nickname, Neo turned back to face Benrey, and they knelt down a little so they were at eye level with the little robot standing on the counter. 

“Love is… Kind of a complicated thing to explain, man. There are different factors to take into account, the different kinds of love, etcetera.”

“I _know_ that.” Benrey mumbled. “About the different kinds of love, I mean. I just… Don’t think I entirely understand. Coomer ‘n Bubby’s wedding was nice and everything and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get emotional,” (That was an understatement. He just didn’t want to admit he cried because of a bouquet and its implications.) “But for the longest time I’ve seen love as nothing but letters and forcing people to be happy.”

Wringing his tiny hands together, he looked up to meet Neo’s gaze. “You ‘n Swap were like. My introduction to the concept of love. Real love, I mean. Sorry if that’s like, weird or something…”

Neo blinked, quickly exchanging a look with Swap. 

“Hey, dude? That’s not weird at all. You were like, trapped in a computer for two years or something, right?”

When Benrey nodded in affirmation, Neo continued. 

“You had no other way of knowing. ‘Sides, it's not like you’re the only one struggling to come to terms with love.”

Neo lovingly nudged Swap’s shoulder at that last bit, and he glanced to the side, visibly flustered. 

“I used to think romance was just. Something you did and then ended.” The Gordon grumbled. “Was kinda shocked when I found out it was a long-term thing. Glad it is, though.”

Neo grinned. “As I said before, love is hard to explain. It’s different for everybody. I guess… The best way I can describe is… That it’s a vibe.”

“A vibe?” Benrey repeated, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah, man. It’s a vibe! No matter what kind of love it is, it makes you feel all warm ‘n fuzzy on the inside. Familial love is like. A feeling of safety. Platonic love is doing dumb shit with your friends on a Friday night and laughing about it afterwards. Romantic love is wanting to hold hands and cuddle with your partner on the couch with a movie- probably John Wick. Love is a vibe, that’s the best way I can explain it.”

Benrey sat down on the counter, contemplating Neo’s words. The human in question had decided to give him some room to process all this, and he and Swap moved to head back into the Gamer Room to keep Player company until Malcom got back.

Love is a vibe.

**Familial love is safety.**

He did feel safe around the other members of the Interdimensional Science Family. Never once did he ever feel truly threatened, even around Doc’s erratic family. They all looked out for one another, had frequent meetups and potlucks (Boss’s idea,) and they stood by each other in hard times. 

**Platonic love is doing dumb shit with your friends and laughing about it afterwards.**

If robbing a bank counted as ‘dumb shit’ then Benrey began to understand this one. He remembered how much fun he had, screwing around in the car and breaking shit at the bank with the other members of the Computer Science Team and Gordy B and Spork… The happiness on Joshua’s face when he’d print something out for him, crawling on Gordon’s head, printing out fake money for him to use at the slot machines… Remembering it all in this context made him smile. A genuine, happy smile. That day had really been a lot of fun. 

**Romantic love.**

He didn’t understand this one in full just yet. Probably because as it was at the moment, he didn’t really have eyes for anyone in particular. At least, he was pretty sure he didn’t... But that’s ok. He doesn’t even know if he’d be ready for a romance of his own just yet. Not after everything that happened in Y2kvr. But he had been thinking a lot about the implications of that bouquet ever since the Desktop Assistant and Firewall's wedding... Maybe one day he _would_ find someone. 

But he had a better understanding of love now. Love was a vibe. And returning to the Streaming HQ when Malcom declared break time over, getting hooked back up to the computer and joining his friends in laughing over stupid faxes (someone sent in a picture of their fursona holding a gun and Neo completely lost it,) Benrey felt it. He felt the vibe. Surrounded by his friends- his family. Making jokes and doing dumb shit in video games. He was feeling the vibe. The familial platonic kind. He even decided that he would in fact, help clean up the mess the faxes made. And when he returned to his home in his home dimension a few hours after the stream had ended, lying down and preparing to activate sleep mode, surrounded by his family... God, his _family_... 

Benrey felt as if he finally understood.

He knew what love was.

And this was it.

Not artificial letters made of malware.

Feelings built on mutual care and… _Trust_. 

At the end of the day, it always came down to trust.

It always came down to trust.

Love was different for everybody.

And for Benrey, **love was trust.**


End file.
